Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2006-07: Tim Erixon, the son of former NHLer Jan Erixon, appeared in eight games each with Skelleftea U18 and U20, scoring a combined two goals and four assists. He competed with the Swedish National U16 squad, tallying a goal and three points in 10 games of international hockey. Erixon competed for Basterbotten in the elite TV-Pucken tournament for high school players in Sweden. He scored 1 goal with 6 assists in eight games.

2007-08: The Skelleftea U20 (SuperElit) blue-liner tallied three goals and 11 points in 28 games this season. He also saw action with most of the teams clubs in the various Swedish leagues. He again saw action with the Swedish National U17 Team, netting a pair of goals and eight points through six games. He was also a member of the winning U18 squad at the World Cup (Ivan Hlinka Memorial) tournament.

2008-09: Erixon, still in the Skelleftea system, played the majority of his hockey with its top team in the Elitserien. In 45 games, the defenseman tallied a pair of goals and seven points. He also saw action with the Malmo Redhawks (Allsvenskan). He competed with both the U18 and U20 Swedish National Teams, tallying three goals and nine points at the WJC-18, making the tournaments All-Star Team and taking home the Most Points and Most Goals by Defenseman award, as well as a Silver Medal; he didn’t have equal success at the WJC, where he failed to register any points. Erixon was chosen in the first round, 23rd overall, of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames. .

2009-10: Erixon played 45 games in Sweden’s Elitserien as an 18-year-old and played for Sweden in the 2010 World Junior U-20 Championship. Playing for Skelleftea, which finished fourth in the 12-team league, he scored 7 goals with 6 assists and was -2 with 44 PMs. Erixon missed ten games due to a wrist injury. In 12 playoff games he scored 1 goal and was +1 with 8 PMs. In five games for Sweden at the WJC U-20 tournament he scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was +3 with 10 PMs.

2010-11: Erixon was one of four highly-regarded teenage prospects that took a regular turn on defense for Skelleftea in Sweden’s Elitserien. He scored 5 goals with 19 assists and was minus-3 with 40 PMs in 48 games as Skelleftea finished third during the regular season. Erixon skated in all 18 playoff games during Skelleftea’s run to the Elitserien finals. He scored 2 of his 3 goals on the power play with 5 assists and was an even plus/minus with 2 PMs. Erixon played for Sweden at the 2011 World Junior U-20 Championship and the 2011 IIHF World Championships. In six games at the junior tournament he had 1 assist and was plus-2 with 2 penalty minutes. Erixon skated in nine games for the silver medal-winning men’s team and had 1 assist and was plus-2 with 2 penalty minutes. The Rangers obtained Erixon from Calgary in a June 2011 trade.

2011-12 Erixon played 18 games with the Rangers last year only tallying two assists. In the AHL he had 33 points (30 assists) in 52 games and a plus-5 rating. He saw a lot of time in the Rangers’ locker room, sometimes as a healthy scratch, and learned from practicing with solid defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. He was traded to Columbus packaged with Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and a first round pick for Rick Nash.

2012-13: Obtained by Columbus from the New York Rangers in July as part of the Rick Nash trade, Erixon showed promise in his first season with the Blue Jackets – skating in 31 games for Columbus before suffering an upper body injury in April. Though overshadowed by the impressive play of rookie teammate Dalton Prout, Erixon fit in well with the young Columbus defense corps. He was plus-4 with 4 assists and 14 penalty minutes and averaged nearly 16 minutes of ice time per game. Erixon began the year playing with Columbus AHL affiliate Springfield during the NHL lockout and in 40 games with the Falcons he scored 5 goals with 24 assists and was plus-9 with 38 penalty minutes. Springfield finished first in the Northeast Division and reached the second round in the playoffs. Erixon did not play in any playoff games.

2013-14: Erixon appeared in two mid-season games with Columbus in his third pro season in North America — spending most of the season with Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate Springfield — and played for Sweden in the 2014 World Championship. He was +2 with no points and two penalty minutes, averaging 14:20 minutes of ice time, in his two cameos with Columbus. He was Springfield’s top scoring defenseman despite appearing in just 40 regular season games with the Falcons. He scored 5 goals and led all skaters for Springfield with 33 assists while finishing minus-4 with 16 penalty minutes. Springfield finished first in the Northeast Division before falling to Providence in a five-game first-round playoff series. Erixon scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was minus-4 with 4 penalty minutes in five playoff games. He had 2 assists and was plus-2 with 10 penalty minutes in 10 games as Sweden captured a bronze medal in Belarus. Erixon signed a one-year contract with Columbus as a restricted free agent in July 2014.

Talent Analysis

Erixon is a puck-moving defenseman who has the ability to work the point on the power play. He isn’t physical, but has decent stick work at both ends of the ice. He is a two-way defenseman with a gifted wrist shot.

Future

Erixon was traded again, this time by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the dal that sent Phil Kessel to the Penguins and Kasperi Kapanen to the Maple Leafs.

Photo: Though he started the 2011-12 season in the AHL, two-way winger Carl Hagelin finished it in the NHL on a line with stars Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik. (Jeanine Leech/Icon SMI)

The New York Rangers' prospects had an excellent season, as the fruits of the changes in drafting philosophy continue to bear fruit. The awards include three first round selections and two picks from the 2011 entry draft.